Is this a common condition? This car's stick shifter is quite sloppy, as if there's a failed spring or support underneath it. Haven't seen it discussed before.
It sounds like a very unfortunate condition. Little blue pill in fuel tank maybe?
I was half expecting a joke along those lines. :P What if I read a bit of Lady Chatterley's Lover to it, or put Je t'aime ...moi non plus. on the CD player?
Found a gamer site where someone opened the shifter up (http://www.yipzone.com/sim/selespeed), they were adapting it. Looks like once the locating ball seat is flogged out, it's all over.
I do have a vague recollection of test driving a 156 selespeed with a flaccid shifter a few years ago. Needless to say I didn't buy it. I'm sure you are on the money, and it's a failed return spring.
I have a spare for sale if you want one.
To install requires dropping of the central tunnel support out the bottom.
Baz
G'day Baz,
I'll probably pass on it for the time being as I'm already suffering scope creep. The car has clearly been worked on by a fully-fledged ******* and everything I look closely at is compromised. >:(